With the face of the devil
by Victoriam Speramus
Summary: Shooting stars can make dreams come true... just not always as expected. The events that happen when Logan tries to kill White, almost dies in the attempt... and wakes up being him. ABANDONED!
1. Shooting Star

**_First Original FanFiction by Victoria Speramus published - EVER!_**

**_Tonight, Monday, November 23rd, 2009._**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing but the shooting star. DA belongs to someone else..._**

* * *

-**With the face of the devil-**

**_Chapter 1: Shooting Star._**

_

* * *

_**LOGAN**

He had found the tall building in his leisure. When analyzing it, Logan knew it was probably the best structure in Terminal City, but there was no doubt that transgenics would always refuse to occupy it because of its strong resemblance to a hospital, something that reminded all experiments and abuses that they had to bear in Manticore. In addition, the building was well blocked to the outside but was right next to a street that the Ordinaries were those who walked in, and no matter how strong they were in comparision with the average people, they were always looking forward for troubles.

So there he could find a place to reflect, relax and free his mind from all the stress that dominated headquarters. Because when wasn't Dix asking how to repair a computer, was Mole asking for more cigars... or Max being with Alec.

It was only necessary to see how she unfolded when she was with the young X5 to realize it was all an elaborate - but bad, after all - acting. Although he knew they were not a couple, - that indeed, they had never been one -, it hurt too much to know that Max was **lying** to him, that she still saying that. He found, before Cindy's death, that she was doing that for his own sake. _For his own sake?_ God, since she had returned from death and they had to deal with the virus - a _biohazard_ girlfriend, Max had called herself - , Logan was more than aware of the danger he was in with being with Max. And yet, he accept the risk, because life was better without being able to touch her that without her.

He had tried to meet other girls and didn't deny that he liked all the attention he received from the females inside TC. They were cute, actually. But none of them was Max.

Moreover, he recognize he had no bore nor grudge against Alec. After all, his _performance_ did not go beyond taking Max's hand when he was present, or tell her a few sweet words. Besides, the young transgenic had made him a pleasant morning, perhaps at the expense of his ignorance, when he had taken several rolls of coaxial cable to deploy the new equipment in HQ. _Coaxial_. He could not resist making fun of him. Definitely his specialty hadn't been telecommunications, like Max's.

Thinking about her again, he inevitably looked at the sky at the exact moment when a shooting star across it. Recalling as that he thought, when he was a kid, that it'd fulfill his wishes, he asked, aware that the star wasn't going to make it true, to be able to touch Max again. It had been a really long time since the last time he could do that without starting to die, and he missed her, _so_ badly.

Then, looking down the street, Logan noticed the black car parked next to the building, and saw a shadow going to one of the windows on lower floors.

* * *

**MAX**

After spending 6 months in Terminal City, Max was adapted to the Big Brother lifestyle: All those within that toxic place knew who she was and couldn't ignore her presence when she was around. On the other hand, they had installed a security camera system in the less crowded places, in order to detect whether some unknown or suspect someone was inside.

She had also become, not willing, to be the voice and face of the huge group of soldiers, so going out of there was almost unthinkable, unless she wanted to be lynched by a group of angry citizens, as the poor Biggs had been. The few times she left the complex, she did through the sewers, wearing the most unnoticeable outfits she had. She had also dyed her hair light brown. And, the worst part, without her Baby.

The main problem of living there, was having to live with Logan. Actually, it was not a problem, but seeing him every day, although it gave her a reason to stay strong, was also her own curse. It was pretty bad having to see him and not being able to touch, hell, not even having the courage to tell him how she really felt. Worse, she had to deal with those female X5's who watched the only ordinary among them as their next conquest. And she knew, deep down, he _had tried_ to be, he _had tried_ to move on, but nothing had worked. He still in love with her. She loved him more than she thought she could.

Looking to the horizon where the flag was upright, she noticed the shooting star crossing the sky. And she asked, silly but desperately, that she could be back with Logan. She missed him so much...

"Excuse me, ma'am." A small boy cut in her thoughts. Lex was an X8 around the age of 5 or 6, and his look - blonde spiky hair, green eyes - reminded her of Logan. "Max." The kid corrected himself. "Mr. Mole and Mr. Dix's are looking for you. They ask you to go to HQ immediately."

She sighed and nodded, smiling to the little kid. So things were there. _No time to be a poor girl in love_. She took Lex's hand and went back to her life.

* * *

**WHITE**

He recognized that they had been extremely _stupid_ for not looking before a map of that area of town known as Terminal City. After watching it, checking it and walking around, Ames White had found a building that apparently was not being occupied by the monsters that his own _father_ - he didn't like to call him that way - had created. Excited like a child about to open his Christmas present, he had decided to finally get to review, in person, the construction, with the intention of seeking to introduce another group of the elite warriors of the Conclave, to annihilate all the transgenic that there were living inside.

He parked his black car on the shadows and got out, looking at his wristwatch. When knowing the time, he looked at the sky as the comet passed by. Within the beliefs of his cult, was that there was a star that it was actually capable of granting wishes. It was that.

So he asked his own. Forgetting all about his missing son, he **begged** for having a way to finish 452, to make her suffer, to make her _pay_. Then, turning to the building, he jumped out a window to enter the fourth floor.

* * *

**THE FIGHT**

"White is here." Dix said as soon as Max entered the HQ.

She could not help rolling her brown eyes, obviously upset by the insistence of the government agent. After leaving Lex, she stood behind Dix. "Where are our manners? We should **go** to greet him." She replied with a sarcastic smile on her lips. "Where is he?" Dix reproduced the video, recorded from the camera installed outside the Evil Tower, as they called the abandoned building because of its resemblance to a hospital, to Manticore.

"Fourth floor." Was all the transhuman had to add.

She immediately went to meet him, followed close by Mole and Alec. Max was really anxious. White had paid them a couple of visits before, which ended with the death of some transgenics, but, most important to her, with the death of Cindy and Joshua. It had been _her_ fault. If only she had let her Big Fella to kill him...

But that didn't happen. And now she was looking for her chance to end his life, once and for all.

*****

The shadow had entered through a window on the fourth floor. Logan felt that he should call Max, but thought better, believing he could handle whatever it was. After all, though his body wasn't half as good as one of a genetically engineered supersoldier, he was capable of doing more than an ordinary human.

Once on the fourth floor, he turned on his flashlight and shone abandoned furniture, partitions, walls, corners... the shadows. There was nothing. He breathed. It was only his nerves. After all, he was in a situation where he didn't know whether the army could start killing them in any second; he was just a little paranoid.

However, he didn't put out his lantern as he thought it. His instinct asked him to wait just a moment longer. And when he turned, his face lit up the macabre Ames White.

He immediately kicked the lantern, hindering Logan's vision, who, nevertheless, found a way to hit him hard enough to make him fall to the ground, several feet away. With long steps he came to him and took him by the collar of his jacket. "You won't hurt her."

"You bet?" White replied, before kicking him in the stomach. He ran quickly to a window, not the same one where he had entered, and looked back, hoping to find the other man lying on the ground.

But he wasn't there.

He was running toward him, pushing him – himself included - through the window. Thousands of pieces of glass flied, while both men fell, and Max's voice was present.

"Logan!"

In that moment, everything crossed her mind. She had been stupid, selfish, a true, real **bitch**. Max couldn't help regretting every single second she lied to him.

She regreted going back to Manticore, playing with her siblings and Lydecker to be _God _and trying to finish them. That had only been the beginning of their end.

_All _those missing opportunities. _All _that year dancing around each other.

She felt how time stood still, though she still seeing them falling, Logan falling. She didn't care if White was going down too, that would actually would make her happy.

"Don't." She whispered, while tears threatened her with falling down her cheeks.

But it was too late. After what had happened with the nurse at Harbor Lights, Logan knew that not even White would be able to survive a fall like that. So he didn't mind dying if he did have the pleasure of killing him.

0-0-0

Once in the ground, Logan felt more pain that he had before, not even in the shooting. The only thing he was able to do was closing his green eyes. Max's voice was barely audible from the window he had just fell from, but he knew then, that she still feeling something for him, which made harder what was coming: his own **death**. Eventually, he opened his eyes again, feeling no more pain. He was in a dazzled, dizzy, confused state, just listening all noises around him. When he could finally focus on something, he saw himself, eyes shut, not breathing, blood all around him. Yeah, that had been the end of Logan Cale.

* * *

_So, this is just the beginning, a short one like most of beginnings. What does mean the tittle? You'll find out in chapter 2, coming out this weekend, if God and my biochemistry teacher allow me to._

_R&R!_

_Besos, Victoria_


	2. Waking up is hard

**_Disclaimer: They're not mine and that's so unfair_**

**_

* * *

_**-**With the face of the devil-**

_**Chapter 2: Waking up is hard**_

_

* * *

He was lying face down on a shore, not knowing how he got there. He felt how the water was slowly covering his body. When he tried to get up, he realized that he couldn't move, remembering it didn't matter. After all, he was **dead**. That was nothing more than heaven, hell or whatever._

_Little fingers lightly touched his back. Logan wanted to turn and see the face of his company, but was still unable to move. Feeling as sea level began to rise even more, he began to despair. "You have to wake up." The childish voice of a girl said. "Otherwise, you will have wasted your wish Logan."_

_The girl jumped up, passing over him, and then started to run along the beach, waving her crimson dress with the smooth movement of the wind, like her brown curls. Logan tried to scream and order her to return, he needed her help... and he failed again, remaining motionless and silent. Meanwhile, the water continued to cover him. He began to feel like he was drowning. Though he was dead, the feeling was so real, so stressful._

_He could not believe he would die in his own death._

* * *

He woke up very scared. That had felt so real. Then, he looked around and saw the IV, the EKG cables, the medical equipment. He **wasn't** dead. Once he fully recovered his breath, he noticed that he wasn't feeling pain at all.

Bad, bad, bad. **Too bad**. No pain could only mean one thing: the damage was big, too big. Surely he was now a quadriplegic. He sighed, thinking White would be dead, or at least sharing a fate similar to his.

But he was alive, and wanted to be himself the one who knew the bad news first. He was disappointed because once again he had triumphed over death, and still, didn't come out unscathed. He didn't want anyone else to come and give him the information.

He didn't want Max to tell him, to _see him like that._

He closed his eyes and tried to lift his left arm, and then opened again, afraid, but he saw his arm raised.

A big, beautiful smile appeared on his features, as if he had done something that he had never done before, something impossible. He repeated the action with his hands, legs, feet. Everything was in perfect order.

Soon, Logan sat on the edge of the bed, and with his face looking at the monitor, began to analyze his vital signs.

His heart beating, respiratory rate, temperature, blah blah blah. Each and every one of the parameters were fine. Even Logan thought he was arguably better than ever.

In the bottom right of the screen, some personal data appeared briefly; however, it did **not** coincide with his. Instead of the name, appeared only 3 letters, which may be some initials, but they were not his, unless his CLG had changed to WAD. Then, at his age, appeared 38 years, instead of his real - _and well-lived_ - 33. Logan frowned, indignant with that, before seeing the most bizarre and, definitely, false data. His blood was AB negative, not O negative as indicated by the monitor.

Logan extended his arm toward a small table on which lay a medical record, at the time a nurse entered the room, and looked at him, obviously surprised to find not only awake, but sitting. "Mr. White. "The young woman came up and gently tucked him into bed."You _should not _move yet. Definitely you _must_ rest as much as possible." Finally, Jenny Sullivan, as was indicated on her uniform, show a hypocritical smile. "Do you feel okay?"

_White?_ Logan frowned again. Upon hearing the question, he tried to respond, to ask an explanation, but could not utter a word, which reminded him of the little girl in his dreams. He nodded his head.

"I'm glad." Jenny faked her smile again. "I'll call Dr. Johnson and communicate with your _familiars_. I'm sure that they'll be _happy_ to know that you're fine." The nurse made a last look at the monitor and drugs that reached him through the IV, and left the room.

Alone, Logan began to think again. The fact that someone - most likely to be Max - had admitted him to the hospital and had said he was five years older than he really was, ceased to bother him, unable to think in more than the last name. _White?_ With so many last names in the world, **why** would they choose White? Even if someone else had been responsible for it, Max would **not** have allowed someone calling him White. It was like being called with the name of the devil.

Ignoring the recommendation of the nurse, he sat back and gazed at the monitor data. He buried himself on his thoughts about that file he read when White turned into the new bad guy in Max's life. WAD. The W was inevitably White. A and D ... Ames Daniel? He shook his head at such an absurd thought. That was even more impossible, _illogical_. A and D could mean many other names.

Then he remembered the date of birth of White. August 23, 1983. Compared with the date appearing on the monitor, January 13, 2022 - _wow, two months out Cale_ -. White was 38. For some reason he could not - or didn't want to, for that matter –remember White's blood type.

Then he could see his reflection in the monitor, and what he saw froze him, removing any doubt left. What he saw was a face, but they were _not_ his eyes or his lips, nose, hair.

They were **White's**.

**He was White.**

* * *

_Short one. But I wanna get you guys in the mood (?). This is just getting better. :) see you soon!_

_Thx for the reviews!! Are really appreciated :)_


	3. Hope

**_Disclaimer: They don't belong to me. Otherwise, since 2005 we'd have new seasons every year._**

**_A/N: _**_This takes places in the moment where Max saw Logan falling with White from the window, in November, considers the air date of "And Jesus brought a casserole" (somewhere in May) as the date of the attack, and then goes to January 2022 a day before the events of Waking up is hard._

_That said, **thank you **very much for keep on reading!_

* * *

**-With the face of the devil-**

_**Chapter 3: Hope**_

_**

* * *

**November 15th, 2021_

In a moment,**_ everything can change_**. Max knew that already.

Ever since that May night, when they did believe they could finish with decades of genetical research, she found out that a minimal action – or reaction – could change the curse of the events.

_If _she hadn't decided to go back to Brin, or _if _she had moved a second before her X7 clone shot her.

_If _Logan had ducked. _If_ Lydecker hadn't called him…

He had told her about his meeting with Lydecker, and she couldn't help the need of going after the Colonel and snap his neck. They had realized that was in that meeting when Manticore took a sample of his blood, the origin of the virus that kept them apart. The day they were talking about that topic, Logan tried to calm her, saying that otherwise, they wouldn't have destroyed Manticore.

And that was another '_what if'_.

If they hadn't burnt Manticore down, she'd be the only one transgenic out there. No Alec, no Mole, no Dix, no Luke, no Joshua, no Lex. Sometimes, she just wanted to get mad at him for putting that silly idea of '_everything happens the way it's supposed to'_ on her mind, because he was right. She couldn't place her life without all those people.

But seeing Logan falling with White… She knew he had done it for her.

And the Universe **wasn't **right on schedule. He **wasn't **supposed to die. Logan could be older than her, but still, he had a lot more to live for. She wasn't sure if he had written a book – though she could consider his diary like one – or if he had planted a tree, but he didn't have a son, so his life wasn't complete, as she had read many years before on a book.

_He could just have called me!_

"Don't." Alec and Mole heard her whisper, but her voice weakened enough to make them unable to listen when she added 'I love you.'

She stood still, while both, transgenic and transhuman, ran towards the window, in a desperate, **last **attempt to save Logan.

They failed. They got there too late.

The sight of Logan, lying on the ground, surrounded by his own, dark red blood, was… sad, to say the least, even for Mole, who had never liked the guy, despite he always provided him of his fine cigars. He had thought that the Ordinary would end up like that, but in an act of _cowardly_, not of braveness, so he couldn't hide his own sign of respect for him.

He had been a **damn ****hero**.

At the same time, Alec's feeling of guiltiness overwhelmed him. Not just the man had been helpful, but had been someone to talk with; in something he'd not admit, a friend. And yet, he had paid him back building an absurd lie around Max and him.

Both Alec and Mole stared at his lifeless body, when Max had finally mustered the courage to walk to the window and see the scenario by herself.

Alec had seen movies where those silly girly girls cried and screamed their lovers name once and again just because they were dead, way worse when they had died for them. That was nothing in comparison to Max. He could see and feel the bunch of thoughts she was having right there and dragged her back inside the building, holding her while tears ran freely down her cheeks, at the same time a man carried White's body into a car.

* * *

Slipping through a small opening on the first floor of the Evil Tower, Alec got out of Terminal City, only to approach the body of Logan, who was being surrounded by a group of curious neighbors.

He kneeled next to him.

"Paramedic." He lied to the bunch of people wondering what he was doing.

And then he saw it.

It was almost imperceptible, even to his enhanced senses.

He put his fingers on his neck, trying to find a pulse.

He couldn't help but smile.

**Logan was still alive.**

**

* * *

**_January 12th, 2022_

Jenny Sullivan walked the long corridor of the hospital to meet with a small woman sitting outside one of the rooms. The woman, wearing a huge blue jacket and covered her newly dyed blond short hair, was like gone, stuck in her own thoughts.

"Hi Max."

Max startled when hearing Jenny's voice, but quickly calmed down, taking off the big sunglasses which were covering her once beautiful brown eyes, now only reflecting all the sadness that lived inside. "Hey." She said.

Jenny was X5-196, about a year older than her and with an extensive experience in the medical field. Although she _deeply _wanted to help her brothers, she was claustrophobic and couldn't stand the fact of living within the walls of Terminal City. It was Max who asked Logan to get her some papers and a job at Metro Medical, where she could not only do what she did best, but get them some medical supplies.

Before beginning her talk with Max, she removed her facemask and smiled sweetly. "The surgery was a success." She said, hugging the concerned X5. "Apparently, all our super blood has taken effect and has regenerated Logan's tissues." Breaking the hug, and looking at Max's eyes, she added. "But I cannot tell yet whether it will be soon when he gets out of the coma."

Max laughed sadly. "At least he's doin' better. Thanks Jen."

"You're welcome." Jenny squeezed Max's soft hands. "One more thing before I go. From tomorrow I will be on the third floor, so you **must **be more careful with your visits. Either way, I'll make everything I can to be informed about Logan, and I'll let you know as soon as I know anything." Max yawned. "You should take some rest Max."

Max nodded. "I will, just let me say good night." Max pointed her head towards Logan, who was coming, lying on a stretcher, to his room, still dreaming.

Once both were alone, Max put on her leather gloves, sat next to his bed and, caressing his face, told him what she did every night since the accident.

"If you get through this, I'll never lie to you again. Just, don't die on me." She squeezed his hand.

When she was in the door, she looked back.

"I love you." She whispered before leaving.

**TBC_  
_**


	4. Play Along

**_Disclaimer: DA belong to Fox._**

**_A/N _**_It really took me a while to figure out what I was going to do with this. I know exactly where I am heading, but I had no clue of how to get there. Also, it didn't help that I lost the flash drive where I had part of this written._

_That said...  
_

_

* * *

_

-**With the face of the Devil-**

_**Chapter 4: Play Along**_

* * *

_January 13th, 2022_

He stood still. Closed and opened his eyes – actually, not his - once and again, expecting to find his own face, but he remained seeing White.

_That's not going to change, Logan, you already know that._

Finally, he took the medical record, just to find out the same data that was in the monitor. _Useless_. Then, turning the page, he read how he had been. Several fractures, internal bleeding, concussion, and the list was longer. He… _White_, apparently had been in a very serious condition, but had recovered completely, considering how fine he was right then.

Logan sighed, before the nurse came back, still with her hypocritical smile_. Jenny Sullivan, who is she?_ "I thought I had told you to stay in bed Mr. White." Logan obeyed the nurse. Staring at her – he could see she was a little afraid -, he still was thinking who she was.

Desperate, anxious and afraid, Logan unplugged the IV that was inserted into his arm, being instantly surrounded by the sound of the alarm. "Mr. White!" She shouted, angrily, and immediately ran to stop him.

"I'm not..." Logan yelled, but stopped at she sound of his voice. _White's_.

Refusing to accept that, feeling in the bottom of his heart that it could be a hallucination, he pushed her against the wall and he saw the frightened looked that she gave him. Then, Logan remembered who she was. An X5. Max had asked him to get her documents in order to live outside. She herself had said to him, with fear in her blue eyes, about her claustrophobia.

The fear on her turned onto hate, and wiping away the blood from her mouth with her sleeve, Jenny stood, doing nothing else than stare. "Sorry." Logan said, before two paramedics arrived. He tried to struggle and gave a good hit straight in one of the paramedic's face, who didn't stay calm and stroke him hard in the temple. After sedating him, he was returned to his room and tied to bed.

0-0-0

_He was lying face down on a shore, not knowing how he got there. He felt how the water was slowly covering his body. When he tried to get up, he realized that he couldn't move._

_Little fingers lightly touched his back. Logan wanted to turn and see the face of his company, but was still unable to move. Feeling as sea level began to rise even more, he began to despair. "You have to wake up." The childish voice of a girl said. "Otherwise, you will have wasted your wish Logan."_

_The girl jumped up, passing over him, and then started to run along the beach, waving her crimson dress with the smooth movement of the wind, like her brown curls. Logan tried to scream and order her to return, he needed her help... and he failed again, remaining motionless and silent. Meanwhile, the water continued to cover him. He began to feel like he was drowning. The feeling was so real, so stressful._

_Immersed in his thoughts, Logan didn't notice when the girl suddenly stopped running and turned to face him. "Are not you going to follow me Logan?" She asked curious with a tilt of her head, in a mocking tone of voice._

_To his own - and great - surprise, the girl's teasing had its effect when he realized he was standing. She smiled as she went her way, running again by the seashore, now followed by the older man._

_Not knowing how - Logan was getting tired of 'not knowing how' things happen - they arrived to a beautiful house on the edge of the beach. "Bienvenue à mon palais Monsieur Cale," She leaned forward, gripping the edges of her dress, imitating a bow._

_"Votre palais?" Logan asked. "Quel est ton nom?"_

_Ok, that had been weird. Logan was sure he could speak several Languages, but French wasn't one of them._

_"My name's Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzie." She extended her hand towards Logan. As he didn't take it, she started playing with the curls of her brown hair._

_Lizzie's carefree attitude, apparently unaware of what was going on with Logan, exasperated him. "What happened to me?" He shook her shoulders violently. When he realized that, he released her, and Lizzie ran away from him with tears in her eyes._

_"Hey, I'm sorry. I think I've been using too much force lately." Logan apologized, handing her a doll._

_"It's okay." She said as she took the doll from his hands. "You must be so much confused."_

_"Do you think?"_

_"Play along."_

_He frowned. "Play along? What is that supposed to mean?"_

_"I know is your dream, but you should play along for a while."_

_"Oh, I get it." Logan sat beside the girl and watched her while she was still playing, quite puzzled by her words. "But that was not my dream, that was not my wish Lizzie." He gave her another doll to attract her attention again. "My dream is to be with Max." He smiled as he pronounced her name, but with a touch of melancholy, remembering that they couldn't be together._

_"I know."_

_"So, why am I wearing the devil's face?"_

_"Because it is a game and you need to play." She spinned around, waving the dress.  
_

_"Ok, I need to play along for a while." Logan repeated her instructions, "in order to make my wish true. What will I obtain with this?" He pointed out to his-White's face._

_"You? Nothing. But you can help a lot to Max." Was all the girl added before going back to her games._

_And Logan stood still there, as the girl's words settled in his mind,  
_

0-0-0

"Heard you have quite a show out there."

Frightening when he heard the unknown voice, Logan made his best attempt to focus on the man standing next to the window. It was Senator McKinley.

Logan didn't answer. What would he do? Reply to the man with the greeting of the cult that was looking to kill of the woman he loved?

"Didn't remind you were so quiet Ames." McKinley laughed.

Logan remained in silence. McKinley was talking to White. And one thing was sure: he could look exactly like White, his voice could be the same than White's, he could be in White's body... but he wasn't White.

"Ok," the man freed one of his hands before handing him a folder, inside which was a picture, "we haven't found him," it was a man, jumping on a police car, a gun in his hand, "yet. Burke forgot to give the Coup de Grâce when he was dying. Don't be mad for his inefficiency, after all, he brought you here immediately. Otherwise you'd be dead. "

Even though he was aware of what was going on with himself, his whole conversation with McKinley - was in fact not a conversation, because the Senator was the only one speaking - and the photo of him in the events that had occurred back in May in Jam Pony, everything seemed surreal, as if he were seeing it from someone else's point of view. He stared, for an indefinite time, at the image that he was holding on his right hand. Oh God. All of this happening just because of a wish.

"Is he alright?"

"Like if you really care." McKinley laughed. It was, actually, a genuine laugh, and that freaked out Logan. "There's a big chance that he's dead already. Burke said he was way worst than you were." He took the photograph back. "I wonder how 452 is feeling for that."

"Max..." Logan whispered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

All of sudden, the blinds that were hiding the daylight were opened by the Senator, and the contact between his eyes and the sunbeams caused to Logan a huge headache, perhaps the combined effect of drugs with the blow from the paramedic.

_'Play along. I know is your dream, but you should play along for a while.'  
_

"Black," Logan said, leaving his company a little confused, "remember me when I leave here asking the hospital's director to fire that bastard." He smirked. "Speaking of, when am I leaving this place?"

"Dr. Johnson is surprised with the fact all your body regenerated itself, but he won't allow you to leave until next Monday." He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed to the door. "You had several brain damage, maybe you won't remember one thing or two, but don't worry, we all are going to help you with that."

That made smile to Logan. If he was going to pretend to be White, it would be difficult to explain why he could not remember many things, and McKinley was going to be helpful with that. Still, he didn't understand why he obeyed the girl of his dreams, but at the bottom he was sure he could really help Max. He just had to play along.

"Fe'nos Tol Ames."

"Fe'nos Tol." He replied, almost naturally.

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

_I know nothing about french so please excuse me if Lizzie's French line was wrong._

_Reviews are love, and it's Christmas Eve, so you must send love (?)_

_Haha whatever._

_Feliz Navidad everyone! Enjoy it in company of your family and friends._


	5. Of Failures and Surprises

_**Disclaimer: Not mine and surely they'll never be.**_

_Ah, been watching a private DA re-run with my 10 year-old brother, who isn't paying much attention to S2 because says S1 was way funnier... he also wonders what the hell happened with Herbal. Yesterday's episode was Hello Goodbye, and despite the odd look he gave while I was sobbing at the final scene, he told me he was sorry Max and Logan broke up... If he knew how many times I've seen that..._

_Done with that, seems I got inspired for this one after the two months hiatus. I wasn't sure of how moving forward, but I'm doing._

* * *

**-With the face of the Devil-**

_**Chapter 5: Of Failures and Surprises**_

* * *

_January 13, 2022_

Somehow, the third floor was always the least occupied in the hospital. The patients who spent their time there were those who could not be accommodated in another area. The oldest nurse, Molly, used to say it was because there were ghosts around there. Jenny doubted of her use of reason, and also of the people who had hired her because the older woman spent much time ensuring she saw _things_ in that place. In addition, Jenny did not believe in ghosts. She might consider that the floor was where they sent evil and abominable human beings as White, but no ghosts.

After the incident with White, Dr. Johnson gave her permission to take a personal day, and flirting with her more than concerned for her welfare, offered her a ride home. Jenny refused, claiming that her boyfriend would stop by her later. _Boyfriend__, ha! _Never before, since her real life began, she had used to have a boyfriend as an excuse to reject a man. Indeed, all the concepts that Manticore had taught her were still very present in her mind, and having a partner was something she hadn't been interested in.

Thus, when the doctor gave up and disappeared from her sight, Jenny slid to the third floor, which was in its usual state of tranquility and solitude, as if frozen in time. Only Molly was there, sitting at the nurses station, praying for the souls who lived there for the eternity. The X5 was looking at her impatiently, behind the door of the bathroom out of service, waiting, dying for Molly to leave and enter the room of the man who haunted her kind.

The waiting was long, boring, and each second her blood boiled more, angry at the man behind the door, angry at herself for not knowing Ames White was there before, even angry at Logan for not having him dead earlier. Her eyes were locked in the greenish door, the cold look in them almost creepy. This could cost her job, which was not only a cover to help her manticorian brothers and sisters, but an escape from the reality it was the world brought to her. Nevertheless, if she got back to that room and killed Ames White, she'd be a fucking heroine. Chances are to be taken, not to be dismissed, she thought. It was the only good damn thing Manticore had taught her.

Desperation won, and quietly, gracefully, she crossed the corridor and went with Molly. How disappointed would the Colonel if he saw her at that moment...

"Hey Molly, what are you doing so late?"

"Sullivan," the woman greeted as usual, calling her by her last name, "the question is what are you doing here so late. Didn't you leave with your boyfriend?" She pointed.

"Nah. He... Billy," she pronounced the first name that crossed her mind, smiling in its mention to make it seem real, "called me, said something came up at work." Supporting her forearm on the old wooden counter, faded by the passing of time and the lack of maintenance, Jenny looked at the clock. It was about 8:30; Molly's turn finished until 9; she still had to spend half an hour before she left. And yet, possibly at that time Candace would be there, replacing the other woman. "Then I thought of coming here. Ultimately, I should be here."

Molly nodded slightly and stayed in silence, holding a rosary between her calloused hands. At this, Jenny could not help rolling her eyes, somewhat amused by the nurse's beliefs; certainly, ghosts wouldn't disappear just because Molly asked that to God; that, if God really existed. "Hey, I was thinking," Jenny commented, startling Molly, whose scared gray eyes were suddenly wide open, as the color drained her face, "sorry. I heard that your daughter and her little kid have come from Tampa to visit you, and I believe maybe you'd like to go home early to spend more time with them. I can stay here waiting for Candace." She offered, the order that she really wanted to give subtly concealed underneath her words.

A breeze down the hall and turned off the dim light of a candle that Molly had lit to pray. Holding even harder the rosarium, now against her chest, the woman refused, shaking her head compulsively. "I can_ not _leave you alone with the demons," she replied with a weak voice.

"Demons?" Jenny's eyes widened, "I'd heard they were the souls of the dead patients." She shuddered, playing down the issue. "Moreover, I've fought demons all my life. There is not much they can do against me." Well, terrorists and soldiers weren't demons, but she had fought against very bad people... or at least she had believed so while in Manticore.

But the other woman scrutinized the candle whose flame had died. "Come on, Molly, you don't really believe in those things, do you?" She traveled the hall's lenght, only to find that the tape that covered part of the broken window had fallen away, the logical reason of the cold breeze. "See? Tape's off, that's all. Go and have fun with the kiddo, make him something delicious for dinner." On her return to the counter, she took another look at watch: it was 8:35, "if you leave now you can take the 8:45 bus." Jenny offered again, almost giving up, with a smile.

The response of the woman didn't arrive to her ears, and Jenny plunged her hand under the collar of her uniform, pulling out a medal, of a virgin, some lady to whom she had never asked for anything, but someone had told her that she always help. "I'll pray to her and I'll ask her for the souls of the dead and to protect me from any demons that still are hanging around here."

Molly almost jumped, excitedly, and fondled the girl in her red hair. "You're an angel," she said gratefully, and took all her things before disappearing in the elevator.

_And now_, Jenny thought, _is showtime_.

She stared at the metal door until the number at the top of it changed, and then prepared, in a small syringe, the _magic _formula she had learned back in Manticore, a substance not detectable in post-mortem examinations. After hiding it in her pocket, took off one of her small earrings, holding in her left hand. She walked with the stealth of a cat, reaching the green door, behind of which was White.

She was ready.

Her hand turned the knob gently, and then an amazing sense of power flooded through her. Her sober face turned happy, grazing on the macabre, while she pushed the door with a slowness that did nothing but increase her level of anxiety.

"Hey there, Jen!"

The earring fell from her hand, into the darkened room, at the surprise of being discovered. She turned his face, only to find Devon, the paramedic that White had beaten before her.

"Hello, Black," she said, referring to him by his last name, as the only good thing she had learned from Molly. "What'cha doing here?" She hissed, nervous, as she crouched down and began looking for the earring.

"You know, if you wanted to come to kill White, it's actually late. He was discharged in the afternoon."

At that time Jenny froze and couldn't stop a giggle, masking her nervousness and failure, of rising in her throat and spreading out of her mouth. "I was looking for my earring," she cocked her head to one side, showing the naked ear. "I think it fell among all the chaos." And then slid the door, allowing the bright light in the hall to illuminate the bed, empty, cold, where White should be. "Wasn't he supposed to be discharged on Monday?"

Devon kneeled, leveling his eyes with Jenny's, and grinned. "You know, it's not as if I hadn't thought about killing him, the son of a bitch kicked me hard." He began to feel the ground, trying to find the little gem that was fulfilling its purpose: her alibi. She was only looking for her earring... "Two of his men came saying that Agent White had to be deployed in the field to continue his work in relation to the trannie threat." He flinched as his hand found the earring, chipping with its tip, and taking it between his forefinger and thumb, put it in one of her delicate hands. "Here you go. And you should begin to call me Devon, for a change. It is bad if you stick to Molly's manners."

Looking at the small and insignificant silver circle in her hand, Jenny gave him what she thought was a grateful smile. "Well, Devon," she said, taking his suggestion, "I think it's time to go," and she pointed to Candace, who arrived complaining about the cold weather and the bus drivers' strike, which had stalled not only the streets, instead it had made her walk to work from her house in Sector 3. "I'll see if Bobby has come for me," and left, waving her hand in the air to both, without even thinking that she had just changed the name of her imaginary boyfriend.

* * *

_What am I going to do?_

The question bounced like a ball within the limits of his head the whole road home. _Home_, Logan thought, and wasn't able to picture home right then. Home had been the penthouse, home had been Terminal City, but home definitely wasn't going to be the place he was heading to. That was Ames White's home, not his.

Gottlieb and the other agent, whose last name he couldn't remember though he introduced himself in the hospital, glanced at him every once in a while, remaining in a blissful silence. _Pain is a phantom of the mind_. Max had shared White's belief with him. They couldn't feel pain? That was bullshit. Logan felt in so many ways better than he had ever been before, but pain... Pain was very present.

Thank God, the men were quiet in the front seats, delaying the imminent headache from rising. Burying his back in the leather, Logan hoped to get out of his condition soon.

"Sir?" Gottlieb started, unsure if his _boss _would be mad at the interruption of his tranquil moment. "Lindemann doesn't want you to be deployed in field ASAP. He says he wants to give you a couple days of rest as well, then get you back at work."

Logan reminded someone else as White's superior. Morgan, the unknown man, seemed to notice his confusion and clarified, "Lindemann is our new boss, Sir. He's replacing Simms."

"That's what the doctor said, he may have trouble remembering the events before his accident." Gottlieb whispered to his partner, who nodded and turned his attention back in the front.

Darkness surrounded the city as the sun went down, and Logan gave a second thought to his barely existent plan. He was, literally and figuratively, in White's shoes, which was going to be a more than strange experience, but as the girl in the dream had told him, it was a chance to help Max. _Should I tell her?_ That was something Logan wasn't able to answer. Would she believe him?

Immersed into his doubts, Logan didn't pay attention to the rest of the route, and, as the black car parked in front of the house, wasn't sure of what to do. There was a lot running his mind, and he didn't view the brunette who down the steps in a blur, trying to reach the gates. He took the backpack Gottlieb gave him in Metro Medical and shoved his hand in one of the pockets of the sport jacket he was wearing, drawing a slim, brand new cellphone. "So, if I need anything, can I call you?" He asked, knowing he need to _'catch up'_ in several matters before figuring out the rest of his plan.

At this, both agents glared at him, then at each other, before Gottlieb replied his question. "Of course, Sir." He smirked, "But I'm afraid we're leaving you in good hands," and motioned toward him. Logan followed the movement, just in time before the brunnette opened the door and leaned down to kiss him deeply...

**TBC...**

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**_Too much Jenny, I know, but she'll be necessary._

_**Offtopic: **This has exactly 452 hits at this time. Wow..._**  
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